Why does the interior of the TARDIS change from Doctor to Doctor? I always assumed upgrades and personalization. However, in looking at pictures from over the years, the changes are far too dramatic to be explained away by upgrades.
Is the TARDIS linked with The Doctor in a way that would cause it to change itself to suit the personality of the current Doctor?
The above are all just WAGs, does anyone have the real scoop?
i vaguely remember something about the TARDIS being linked psychically to the Doctor, or (occasionally) his companions (i think it redefines itself according to Ace’s thoughts in one of the novels) so the interior has been known to act as a kind of giant mood ring at times.
First of all, the Tardis remained pretty much the same (there were a few minor variations, but nothing major) from Doctors 1-4, until they discovered an “auxiliary control room” in dark wood tones instead of white plastic. After a few episodes, they went back to the original interior, which was kept (with minor variations) at least through the sixth doctor, and possibly through the seventh. It was changed for the Dr. Who movie (eighth doctor) and again for the ninth.
The general design was white walls with large translucent circles. The spacing and design of the circles changed over time, but the control console remained the same (other than in the wood-paneled auxiliary control room). I recall one episode where the interior was lit so it looked dark and forbidding, but the interior of the ship was unchanged.
As for the minor changes, I seem to recall the fifth doctor commenting on it – IIRC< his comment was that the Tardis was in some ways a living being and sometimes reconfigured itself.
Roundels.
And don’t forget that the 5th Doctor (Peter Davison) jettisoned approximately 25% of the TARDIS interior in Castrovalva (including Romana’s room)…
The interior of the TARDIS tends to be static, but the console itself undergoes frequent, and usually unremarked-upon, upgrades. In the early 80s, the fifth Doctor’s TARDIS gained a recognizable CRT and keyboard for the first time, and it gradually grew more sophisticated until the telemovie, at which point the designers decided to go retro. The new series mixes the two approaches, combining a bicycle pump and roller wheel with an LCD viewer.
Actually, Romana’s room got dumped in the previous story, Logopolis.